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Drop (Blu-Ray/Digital HD) Review
Image Credit: Universal Pictures
Loading...Directed by: Christopher Landon
Written by: Jillian Jacobs & Chris Roach
Starring:
Meghann Fahy – Violet Gates
Brandon Sklenar – Henry Campbell
Violett Beane – Jen Gates
Jacob Robinson – Toby Gates
Reed Diamond – Richard
Gabrielle Ryan – Cara
Jeffery Self – Matt
Ed Weeks – Phil
Benjamin Pelletier – Masked Man
Travis Nelson – Connor
Michael Shea – Blake
Domestic Gross: $16.6 million
Worldwide Gross: $28.5 million
Blu-Ray/DVD Release Date: 6/10/2025
Running Time: 95 minutes
Rated PG-13 for strong violent content, suicide, some strong language and sexual references.
Christopher Landon has carved out a strong niche as having a talent for making popcorn horror films. Whether it’s his directing work on Happy Death Day and Freaky or his writing on this year’s Heart Eyes, Landon more often than not can bring a sense of fun that can be missing in horror and thriller movies today.
Landon brings that same element to Drop, his latest turn behind the camera. The director’s savvy tech thriller entertained audiences quite well when it arrived in theaters in April. Now that it’s out on home video, the ‘worst first date ever’ movie is a great choice for fans looking for a smart and well-executed suspense flick with mystery elements.
Drop centers on Violent (Meghann Fahy), a woman in Chicago who works as a therapist for survivors of abuse following her own traumatic experience years ago. After several months of speaking on a dating app with Henry (Brandon Sklenar), she is going out on a date with him.
With her young son Toby (Jacob Robinson) at home in the care of her sister, Violent meets up with Harry at a high-rise restaurant. Before the date even starts though, she starts to get strange and ominous messages via an Airdrop-like app from someone in the restaurant. The mysterious dropper soon makes his intent clear, ordering Violent to kill Henry. With a host of potential suspects, a ticking clock and her son’s life on the line, Violet must figure out how to get out of a seemingly impossible situation when her mystery tormentor could be pretty much anyone.
If that all sounds a little Hitchcockian, that’s only because it is. The script for Drop, written by Jillian Jacobs & Chris Roach, leans hard on the kind of high concept suspense thriller that was Hitchcock’s bread and butter. There are elements of Rope and Rear Window woven into what is more or less a single-location thriller that relies on its mystery and the cat-and-mouse game between Violet and the villain(s) to keep things moving.
Despite the Hitchcock elements, Drop never feels like a rip-off of those classics. The writing duo finds their own spin on the concepts through the drops and their effective use of the restaurant setting, which becomes an immersive space thanks to the work of Landon and his production team. Carefully plotted mini-setpieces – a bathroom trip here, an ill-advised attempt to move tables there – keep the matter from becoming dull, and Landon manages the pace of the film quite well, with as few exceptions, to keep the 95-minute run time zipping by.
Truly though, this is Fahy’s showcase and she makes the most of it. The actress rises to the occasion with Fahy, taking what could have been a boilerplate character and adding plenty of her own shades in. She makes Violent smart and resourceful but never forgets to sell the fear and tension of her situation. It’s the kind of performance that makes me immediately hopeful that she does more genre work, because she has a perfect grasp on the mix of elements needed for a role like Violet.
The rest of the cast is fine, even if they don’t shine quite as much as Fahy. Sklenar has instant chemistry with his co-lead and makes an incredibly likeable date for Violet while Reed Diamond, Gabrielle Ryan, and Ed Weeks all get little moments to shine as customers and/or employees that Violent interacts with. Jeffrey Self is over the top as the couple’s waiter in order to serve as the comic relief and he toes that edge of going too far as overly chatty, very extra personality but never crosses it.
While Drop isn’t ostentatiously showy, Landon injects plenty of style into the film and keeps the suspense simmering. He finds little moments to cast suspicion on everyone to make it that much harder to guess who is behind it all. His use of texts through the drop app are a step up from the usual “Text Bubbles On The Screen” format that Hollywood favors, and little details give them their own personality.
Things are certainly not perfect in this; notably, a series of flashbacks to Violet’s troubled past don’t work quite as well as they should. The connections are made in the script and the scenes are well-done out of contest, but they also have the unfortunate side effect of stopping the plot momentum at crucial times.
Drop probably won’t be on many best of the year lists by the time December rolls around. It is as slight as it is fun, but to their credit Landon and company never try to pretend otherwise. At a trim 95 minutes, it gets in and out and never fails to entertain at any turn.
Film Rating: 7.5
Universal has given Drop a very impressive looking transfer for the Blu-Ray release. The 2.39:1 aspect ratio looked fine and the detailed set of the Palate restaurant sparkled appropriately, with no digital artifacts and good sharpness. This is a film that lives in warmer hues and they came off vibrant, with no blackness bleeding through.
The audio track is the stronger of the two aspects though, putting the highlight on Bear McCreary’s tone-setting score. The music never overshadows the dialogue, which always comes through with great clarity and very well-done immersion via the Dolby Atmos track. This is no high-octane action film to push your home theater to the limits with, but it does exactly what it needs to.
Video/Audio Rating: 8.0
* Feature Commentary With Christopher Landon: I’m always down for a good feature commentary from a director, and while I think Landon could have used someone to banter with, he comes off well here. He is very fond of the term “fun fact” and gives plenty of anecdotes, some of which are quite insightful in terms of the production and his inspirations. As commentary tracks go, it’s entertaining and informative enough to be worth the listen
* A Recipe For Thrillers: Making Drop (6:44): The first of three EPK-style featurettes, this making-of bit only goes into the highest levels of overview but gives us a few decent bits of information for those curious.
* A Palate For Panic (4:32): This four and a half minute bit goes into the creation of the primary setting of the film. While I would have liked it to be longer, there are some great little tidbits about the care that went into making the Palate seem like a real location, and why that was important to the cast.
* Killer Chemistry (3:36): The shortest featurette is the fluffiest with Sklenar, Fahy, Landon largely focusing on praising each other. It’s amiable and it doesn’t wear out its welcome, but you’re not likely going to find too much in terms of deep insight in this.
Special Features Rating: 7.0
